Chemiluminescent lighting elements consist of a flexible translucent tube or pipe etc. filled with liquids capable of emitting light at the start of an activation caused by bending them.
The principle and techniques for the production of such light, referred to as "chemiluminescent" are well known. They are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,608.
Translucent tubes, which may or may not be compartmentalized, filled with liquids capable of supplying chemiluminescent light have existed for several years. These articles are used, in particular, as fishing lures, or for purposes of beacon signalling, decoration, amusement, or advertising.
The light is emitted when two chemiluminescent composition components, one of which is generally called the activator, are placed in contact so as to permit their mixing. It is possible to mix them and then introduce the mixture into a tube made of translucent plastic material, seal its ends and then freeze the whole so as to cause a stoppage of the chemiluminescent reaction. At the moment of use, the tube is brought back to ambient temperature and starts to emit the desired light. This known process has the merit of being simple, but has numerous disadvantages, the main one being the obligation of accompanying the element or device with a refrigerated enclosure until the time of its use.
In more common practice, a different process is used, which consists of using a tube or pipe of translucent plastic material containing the first liquid and an interior capillary glass tube containing the activator. The two liquids thus remain separated until the moment at which the user decides to carry out their mixing by simplying bending the assembly, which causes breakage of the inner glass tube and causes mixing of the two liquids, and therefore, chemiluminescent light emission.
Such devices are presently marketed on a large scale but nevertheless present various disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage lies in the necessary limitation of the length of the inner glass tube, generally one-half meter maximum. In fact, an excessively long glass tube is easily broken prematurely, either by the user, or during handling, transport or packaging, or even during manufacturing.
Furthermore, glass is not a chemically inert material with respect to the liquids to be used and over the long term, it will cause changes to the chemicals during storage. There is also a certain unfavorable prejudice against the use of glass that is to be broken, with certain users being afraid that sharp pieces may pierce the plastic outer wall and cause injury to the hands.
The limitation of the length of the glass capillary greatly complicates continuous manufacturing, whereas the outer tube could be unwound continuously during the manufacturing process.
A different technique has recently been proposed, which permits the realization of a tubular chemiluminescent lighting element containing a second plastic tube, rather than a glass tube, inside its perifery. Some of the disadvantages mentioned above regarding the use of glass are thus overcome. This technique makes use of a slide containing a cutting edge which permits a longitudinal slitting of the inner tube along its whole length; see U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,049. Unfortunately, when applying this technique, it is not possible to manufacture series of elements continuously. The slide must actually be introduced separately into each article. This disadvantage is particularly troublesome if one considers the production of relatively short tubular articles.